M.A./Ph.D. Certificate

The Program in Disability Studies Offers an M.A./Ph.D. Certificate

Flexible, interdisciplinary, and student-centered, the Certificate in Disability Studies offers graduate students throughout the University the opportunity to deepen their scholarship and join a vibrant learning community. Home of The Journal of Philosophy of Disability and the Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal, Georgetown is a leader in Disability Studies scholarship; the Certificate offers graduate students the opportunity to participate in this dynamic, innovative community.

This certificate is available to all matriculated Georgetown M.A. or Ph.D. graduate students, with the approval of their home department and the DS director. It will be awarded on the completion of 12 credit-hours of Disability Studies course work. 

Courses

To complete the Certificate, students may take a wide range of graduate-level courses with a DBST attribute, advanced undergraduate courses with a DBST attribute, and individual tutorials on disability-related subjects. There are no required courses. To explore what is available this semester or next, simply visit the Registrar’s Course Search page  and then type “DBST” into the “Attribute” search box. If students identify other courses that provide significant opportunities to engage with disability in theory or practice, they should present them to the Director for approval. The list below gives you a sense of courses that have been run and counted towards the certificate in prior years:

Disability Studies Seminar (DBST)
Gender and Care in Modern US Poetry (ENGL)
Introduction to Disability Studies (ENGL)
Queer Memoir: Theory and Practice (ENGL)
Disability, Art, and Culture (ENGL)
Refugee/Humanitarian Crises (INAF)
Intro to Humanitarian Crises (INAF)
Epidemiology (LAW)
Bioethics and the ‘Abnormal’ Body (PHIL)
The Ethics and Politics of Weight and Eating (PHIL)
Ethics of Embodiment (PHIL)
Political Philosophy of the Body (PHIL)
Topics in Philosophy of Disability (PHIL/DBST)
Phenomenology of Embodiment (PHIL)
Health, Normality, and Disability (PHIL)
People, Plagues, Technology (THEO)
Disability and the Jewish Bible (THEO)
Religion and Gender (THEO)

Application

If you are interested in the DS Certificate, please first talk to your graduate advisor to coordinate how this fits in with your graduate program. Then, please fill out this form, obtain your advisor’s signature, and map a path of 12 credits.

Students must declare and obtain approval for the DS Certificate by April 1 of their graduation semester, but preferably by early in the second year of their graduate studies.

For more information about the DS Certificate, please contact disabilitystudies@georgetown.edu.